The Fire outshot DC United 14-8 but neither club could penetrate
the goal line.

"I felt I was on top of my game tonight," Perkins said. "I was
relaxed and confident."

"A very good job by Perkins tonight, but our strikers did not
shoot the ball with good placement," Fire coach Juan Carlos
Orsorio said "They could have been more selective."

Chicago earned a point for the draw, and coupled with Kansas
City's loss to New York, pulled even with the Wizards for the
seventh seed. Each team has 37 points.

The Fire could be assured of qualification for the MLS Cup
Playoffs if Colorado fails to defeat Chivas on Sunday and if
the LA Galaxy lose to Toronto FC later on Saturday.

The Fire (9-10-10), who have just one loss in their last eight
matches, host the Galaxy next week in their regular-season
finale.

The tie extended DC United's unbeaten streak to 13 games and
gave it a three-point lead over Chivas USA in the battle for the
best overall record in the MLS.

"Winning the Supporters Shield (best record in regular season)
is a big thing to us," DC United coach Tom Soehn said.
"However, we made it hard on ourselves tonight. we just did not
maintain possession of the ball and did not play our game."